TOKYO, Japan – If you’ve ever thought, “The All-Star Game is pretty cool, I wish there were two of them,” Japan has you covered. The NPB All-Star week took place this year at Es Con Field Hokkaido and Meiji Jingu Stadium, with the Central League and Pacific League splitting the series. In one of the lowest-scoring seasons in modern history, the games offered a surprising change of pace with 43 runs between the two sides – tied for the most in NPB All-Star series history.
Home Run Derby Recap
Round One
Kazuma Okamoto defeats Chusei Mannami, 5-3
Kensuke Kondoh defeats Shugo Maki, 4-3
Ariel Martinez defeats Munetaka Murakami, 7-6
Hotaka Yamakawa defeats Seiya Hosokawa, 5-4
Round Two
Kensuke Kondoh defeats Kazuma Okamoto after a tiebreaker, 11-10
Hotaka Yamakawa defeats Ariel Martinez, 5-4
Final Round
Kensuke Kondoh defeats Hotaka Yamakawa after a tiebreaker, 13-12
NPB switched its derby format this year to feature two-minute rounds of unlimited swings with a one-minute tiebreak, if necessary. Kensuke Kondoh took down Shugo Maki and edged Kazuma Okamoto in an intense tiebreaker, while teammate Hotaka Yamakawa took down Seiya Hosokawa and Ariel Martinez. They met in the final with fellow SoftBank Hawk Ryoya Kurihara throwing to both players. After tying the initial round 8-8, Kondoh hit five additional homers in the tiebreaker to win the competition.
Game One, Central League @ Pacific League
Central League Starting Lineup
SP Hiroto Saiki (Tigers)
Pacific League Starting Lineup
SP Sachiya Yamasaki (Fighters)
On Tuesday, the players started their day with a blue carpet showcase before taking the diamond at Es Con Field, Japan’s newest stadium modeled after Globe Life Field in Arlington.
The Pacific League rolled out a funky lineup featuring a Nippon-Ham Fighters monopoly with seven current Fighters and two former Fighters players. Several played out of position. Not only did southpaw Sachiya Yamasaki get the start on the mound, but his former manager, Satoshi Nakajima, also hit him second in the batting order.
Known to be one of the better-hitting pitchers in NPB, Yamasaki successfully recorded a base hit in the bottom of the 1st inning. But things quickly spiraled out of control for the hometown star as the Central League batted around with 10 hits and 9 runs in the 2nd inning. Among the damage were back-to-back home runs by Yoshihiro Maru and Shugo Maki and a 2-run bomb by Munetaka Murakami, giving the Central League the largest lead in NPB All-Star history.
Munetaka Murakami went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a homer in the All-Star game 💣
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) July 23, 2024
Hanshin Tigers right-hander Hiroto Saiki got the nod for the CL, running his fastball up to 96 mph and striking out the side to escape a bases-loaded jam in the 1st inning. Lotte Marines outfielder Hiromi Oka hit an opposite-field homer in the 2nd inning to get the PL on the board, but Saiki wasn’t charged with an earned run, as it came after Maki dropped a pop-up in foul territory.
Maki made up for the error with his second long ball off Venezuelan Anderson Espinoza in the 4th inning to make it 11-1. The CL offense was in full swing as Yoshihiro Maru, Shugo Maki, Kazuma Okamoto, Munetaka Murakami, and Tyler Austin each had multi-hit performances with three doubles and four homers.
Initially, It was a blowout, but the PL kept things interesting. Superstar Chusei Mannami went 3 for 4 with a double, just missing a home run by inches. Ryusei Kawano struck out the side in the 7th. Takahiro Norimoto attempted a few knuckleballs in the 8th. Hotaka Yamakawa crushed a 3-run homer off premier closer Ryoji Kuribayashi in the 8th inning. In the end, though, the CL’s early explosion was too much to overcome.
FINAL: Central League 11, Pacific League 6.
MVP: Shugo Maki (BayStars): 2 for 3, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Game Two, Pacific League @ Central League
Central League Starting Lineup
SP Kojiro Yoshimura (Swallows)
Pacific League Starting Lineup
SP Kohei Arihara (Hawks)
Speedster Ukyo Shuto hit a leadoff knock and immediately stole second base. In the following inning, Rakuten Eagles outfielder Ryosuke Tatsumi opened the scoring with a solo shot to get the Pacific League on the board. The Central League answered in the bottom of the inning with a grand slam off the bat of Hiroshima Carp catcher Shogo Sakakura.
The PL opened the 4th with four straight hits off Hiroki Tokoda and rallied for five runs to take the lead back. The PL took an 8-5 lead into the bottom of the 5th before Tyler Austin and Munetaka Murakami crushed back-to-back homers off flamethrower Andres Machado to draw the CL even. It was an excellent series for Murakami, without the pressure of living up to his extraordinary expectations during the regular season, as he appeared relaxed and tallied two doubles and two homers.
108 mph off the bat of Tyler Austin into the stands!
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) July 24, 2024
But the bats didn’t stop there as the PL scored two in the 6th, one in the 7th, four in the 8th, and one in the 9th to plate 16 runs. They finished the night with 28 hits as Kensuke Kondoh and Toshiya Satoh led the charge with five hits each. Hiromi Oka hit his second dinger of the series. The CL added two runs late but fell short with 10 runs on 16 hits. Tatsuya Imai ended the game with an impression of teammate Jefry Yan’s popular “K strut” celebration.
Tatsuya Imai, Jefry Yan K strut impression @PitchingNinja
Now nicknamed “TatsuYan” by teammate Chihiro Sumidapic.twitter.com/SZnlqsEaJ0
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) July 24, 2024
This was the first time in NPB All-Star Game history that both teams put up double-digit runs, combining for an astonishing 26 runs and 44 base hits.
FINAL: Pacific League 16, Central League 10.
MVP: Toshiya Satoh (Marines): 5 for 6, 3 2B, 3B, 2 RBI
Full Rosters
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Manager: Akinobu Okada (Hanshin Tigers)
Coach: Takahiro Arai (Hiroshima Carp)
Coach: Daisuke Miura (DeNA BayStars)
Fan Vote Winners
C: Yuudai Yamamoto (DeNA BayStars)
1B: Kazuma Okamoto (Yomiuri Giants)
2B: Shugo Maki (DeNA BayStars)
3B: Munetaka Murakami (Yakult Swallows)
SS: Hideki Nagaoka (Yakult Swallows)
OF: Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (DeNA BayStars)
OF: Koji Chikamoto (Hanshin Tigers)
OF: Seiya Hosokawa (Chunichi Dragons)
Reserves
C: Shogo Sakakura (Hiroshima Carp)
INF: Kaito Kozono (Hiroshima Carp)
INF: Takumu Nakano (Hanshin Tigers)
INF: Tyler Austin (DeNA BayStars) +
INF: Toshiro Miyazaki (DeNA BayStars)
OF: Domingo Santana (Yakult Swallows)
OF: Shogo Akiyama (Hiroshima Carp)
OF: Yoshihiro Maru (Yomiuri Giants)
OF: Ryuki Watarai (DeNA BayStars) +
Starting Pitchers
RHP: Hiroto Saiki (Hanshin Tigers
RHP: Shosei Togo (Yomiuri Giants)
RHP: Iori Yamasaki (Yomiuri Giants)
RHP: Daichi Ohsera (Hiroshima Carp)
LHP: Hiroki Tokoda (Hiroshima Carp)
LHP: Katsuki Azuma (DeNA BayStars)
RHP: Kojiro Yoshimura (Yakult Swallows)
RHP: Hiroto Takahashi (Chunichi Dragons)
Relief Pitchers
LHP: Suguru Iwazaki (Hanshin Tigers)
LHP: Takuma Kirishiki (Hanshin Tigers)
RHP: Ryoji Kuribayashi (Hiroshima Carp)
RHP: Kohei Morihara (DeNA BayStars)
RHP: Hiroki Ohnishi (Yakult Swallows)
RHP: Raidel Martinez (Chunichi Dragons)
RHP: Shinya Matsuyama (Chunichi Dragons)
Unavailable
OF: Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (DeNA BayStars)
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Manager: Satoshi Nakajima (Orix Buffaloes)
Coach: Masato Yoshii (Lotte Marines)
Coach: Hiroki Kokubo (SoftBank Hawks)
Fan Vote Winners
C: Yua Tamiya (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
1B: Ariel Martinez (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
2B: Daigo Kamikawabata (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
3B: Yuya Gunji (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
SS: Tatsuki Mizuno (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
OF: Kensuke Kondoh (SoftBank Hawks)
OF: Ukyo Shuto (SoftBank Hawks) +
OF: Chsuei Mannami (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
DH: Takeya Nakamura (Seibu Lions)
Reserves
C: Toshiya Satoh (Lotte Marines)
INF: Hotaka Yamakawa (SoftBank Hawks)
INF: Ryoya Kurihara (SoftBank Hawks)
INF: Shuta Tonosaki (Seibu Lions)
INF: Sosuke Genda (Seibu Lions)
INF: Kotaro Kurebayashi (Orix Buffaloes)
INF: Daichi Suzuki (Rakuten Eagles) +
OF: Hiromi Oka (Lotte Marines)
OF: Ryosuke Tatsumi (Rakuten Eagles)
OF: Shun Mizutani (Nippon-Ham Fighters) +
DH: Gregory Polanco (Lotte Marines)
Starting Pitchers
LHP: Sachiya Yamasaki (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
RHP: Anderson Espinoza (Orix Buffaloes)
LHP: C.C. Mercedes (Lotte Marines)
RHP: Kohei Arihara (SoftBank Hawks)
RHP: Ryosuke Ohtsu (SoftBank Hawks)
LHP: Masaru Fujii (Rakuten Eagles)
RHP: Tatsuya Imai (Seibu Lions)
Relief Pitchers
LHP: Ryusei Kawano (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
RHP: Seigi Tanaka (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
RHP: Andres Machado (Orix Buffaloes) +
LHP: Shota Suzuki (Lotte Marines)
RHP: Yuki Matsumoto (SoftBank Hawks)
RHP: Takahiro Norimoto (Rakuten Eagles)
Unavailable
INF: Tatsuki Mizuno (Nippon-Ham Fighters)
INF: Ryo Ohta (Orix Buffaloes) +
OF: Yuki Yanagita (SoftBank Hawks)
DH: Takeya Nakamura (Seibu Lions)
+ Named as a replacement or late addition
Photo Credit: Munetaka Murakami of the Yakult Swallows grounds out in the 7th inning against Hanshin Tigers of the NPB at Jingu Stadium on April 6, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Sports Nippon/Getty Images)
